1st Auto & Casualty Insurance Company v. A. P.

2021 WI App 66
CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedAugust 18, 2021
Docket2020AP001745
StatusPublished

This text of 2021 WI App 66 (1st Auto & Casualty Insurance Company v. A. P.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
1st Auto & Casualty Insurance Company v. A. P., 2021 WI App 66 (Wis. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

2021 WI App 66

COURT OF APPEALS OF WISCONSIN PUBLISHED OPINION

Case No.: 2020AP1745

†Petition for Review Filed

Complete Title of Case:

1ST AUTO & CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY,

PLAINTIFF-RESPONDENT,

V.

R. P., J. P. AND A. P., A MINOR,

†DEFENDANTS-THIRD-PARTY PLAINTIFFS-APPELLANTS,

CODY TRIEBS,

THIRD-PARTY DEFENDANT,

PROGRESSIVE UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY,

THIRD-PARTY DEFENDANT-RESPONDENT.

Opinion Filed: August 18, 2021 Submitted on Briefs: April 13, 2021 Oral Argument:

JUDGES: Stark, P.J., Hruz and Nashold, JJ. Concurred: Dissented: Appellant ATTORNEYS: On behalf of the defendants-third-party plaintiffs-appellants, the cause was submitted on the briefs of Tracy N. Tool, Martha H. Heidt, and Cristina M. Wirth of Bye, Goff & Rhode, Ltd., River Falls.

Respondent ATTORNEYS: On behalf of the plaintiff-respondent, the cause was submitted on the brief of Patrick G. Heany of Thrasher, Pelish & Heaney, Ltd., Rice Lake.

On behalf of third-party defendant-respondent, the cause was submitted on the brief of Anthony P. Hahn of Devine Hahn, S.C., Racine.

2 2021 WI App 66

COURT OF APPEALS DECISION NOTICE DATED AND FILED This opinion is subject to further editing. If published, the official version will appear in the bound volume of the Official Reports. August 18, 2021 A party may file with the Supreme Court a Sheila T. Reiff petition to review an adverse decision by the Clerk of Court of Appeals Court of Appeals. See WIS. STAT. § 808.10 and RULE 809.62.

Appeal No. 2020AP1745 Cir. Ct. No. 2018CV353

STATE OF WISCONSIN IN COURT OF APPEALS

A. P., A MINOR, R. P. AND J. P.,

DEFENDANTS-THIRD-PARTY PLAINTIFFS-APPELLANTS,

APPEAL from judgments of the circuit court for Eau Claire County: EMILY M. LONG, Judge. Affirmed. No. 2020AP1745

Before Stark, P.J., Hruz and Nashold, JJ.

¶1 STARK, P.J. Amy1 was sexually assaulted by Cody Triebs inside the cab of Triebs’ pickup truck and on the truck’s tailgate. At issue in this appeal is whether insurance policies issued by 1st Auto & Casualty Insurance Company and Progressive Universal Insurance Company provide uninsured motorist (UM) coverage for Amy’s injuries. The circuit court granted summary judgment to 1st Auto and Progressive, concluding their respective policies do not provide UM coverage because Amy’s injuries from the sexual assault did not arise out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of an uninsured motor vehicle. We agree and affirm.

BACKGROUND

¶2 Triebs, a friend of Amy’s family, was staying with her family during deer hunting season in November 2016. While there, he slept in a shed on the family’s property. Amy was thirteen or fourteen years old at the time, and Triebs was twenty or twenty-one.

¶3 According to Amy, one night she went out to the shed intending to clean it for her father. Triebs was in the shed, and Amy talked to him about hunting for approximately one hour. Triebs then asked if Amy wanted to go and get a soda, and she agreed, believing they would drive to a nearby gas station.

¶4 Instead of going to a gas station, however, Amy testified that Triebs drove his pickup truck to a secluded parking lot. After putting his truck in park, and while they were still inside the truck’s cab, Triebs grabbed and kissed Amy, who

1 For ease of reading, we refer to defendant-third-party-plaintiff-appellant A.P. using the pseudonym “Amy,” rather than her initials.

2 No. 2020AP1745

said “no” and tried to push him away. Triebs ignored her and began to sexually assault her. Triebs then dragged Amy to the tailgate of the truck, where he continued to sexually assault her. Afterwards, Triebs told Amy not to tell anyone, and they drove to a gas station before returning to Amy’s home.

¶5 During his deposition testimony, Triebs admitted having sexual contact with Amy on the night in question. According to Triebs, however, the sexual contact was initiated by Amy and began while they were driving in his truck. Triebs confirmed that after he parked the truck, he had sexual contact with Amy both in the cab and in the bed of the vehicle. Triebs testified he was aware at the time of the sexual contact that he was an adult and Amy was a minor, and that it was therefore illegal for him to have sexual contact with her.

¶6 At the time of the sexual assault, Triebs was covered by an automobile insurance policy issued by Progressive, and Amy’s parents had an automobile insurance policy issued by 1st Auto. Both of those policies included UM coverage. The UM coverage insuring agreements in both policies stated that the respective insurers would pay damages that an insured was legally entitled to recover from the owner or operator of an uninsured motor vehicle because of bodily injury that: (1) was sustained by an insured; (2) was caused by an accident; and (3) arose out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of an uninsured motor vehicle.2

2 It is undisputed that Amy qualified as an insured under both policies at the time of the sexual assault. It is also undisputed that Triebs’ pickup truck qualified as an uninsured motor vehicle under both policies. Although Triebs’ pickup truck was insured under the Progressive policy, Progressive denied liability coverage for A.P.’s injuries. Both policies define an uninsured motor vehicle to include a land motor vehicle “[t]o which a bodily injury liability bond or policy applies at the time of the accident, but the bonding or insuring company … [d]enies coverage.”

3 No. 2020AP1745

¶7 1st Auto commenced this lawsuit on July 26, 2018, seeking a declaratory judgment that its policy did not provide UM coverage for Amy’s injuries stemming from the November 2016 sexual assault. Amy and her parents subsequently filed a third-party complaint against Triebs seeking compensatory and punitive damages, and they later filed an amended third-party complaint adding Progressive as a third-party defendant.3 Progressive then filed an answer, cross- claim, and counterclaim, seeking a declaration that its policy provided neither liability nor UM coverage for Amy’s injuries.

¶8 Upon the parties’ stipulation, the circuit court issued an order bifurcating the coverage issues and staying proceedings on the merits of Amy’s third-party claim against Triebs. Both 1st Auto and Progressive then moved for summary judgment, contending that their respective policies did not provide UM coverage because Amy’s injuries did not arise from the ownership, maintenance, or use of an uninsured motor vehicle. 1st Auto also argued that there was no UM coverage under its policy because Amy’s injuries were not caused by an accident and because of the “fortuity principle”—i.e., the principle “that insurance covers fortuitous losses and that losses are not fortuitous if the damage is intentionally caused.” In addition, Progressive argued that its policy did not provide liability coverage for Amy’s injuries because the sexual assault was an intentional act and was not accidental.

¶9 The circuit court granted both insurers’ summary judgment motions. With respect to UM coverage, the court concluded that Amy’s injuries did not arise from the ownership, maintenance, or use of an uninsured motor vehicle, as there

3 We refer to Amy and her parents, collectively, as “Amy” throughout the remainder of this opinion.

4 No. 2020AP1745

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2021 WI App 66, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/1st-auto-casualty-insurance-company-v-a-p-wisctapp-2021.